I surrender!
by LittleMermade
Summary: The conflict is reaching its climax when the two teams meet again. Every one of the heroes has their own struggle and the outcome of the conflict is surprising all of them. Part 4 of my Romanogers Civil War Universe. R&R :)
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: Thanks to all the people who read this! Hardly anyone reviews, but I can see the amount of views and it's amazing how many people read it. I don't know your opinion, but looks like, you don't want me to. Anyway, lots of silent people in an audience are better than none ;)**

 **I have seen Captain America: Civil War in cinema and don't worry: I won't be influenced by it when it comes to the story. The concept for this storyline is fixed since about a year and I won't change it.**

 **This is part 4. I recommend reading the other three parts first and afterwards return here.**

 **I still don't own Marvel.**

 **Warnings: violence, some words out of the swear box ;) … and people getting hurt really, really bad…**

 _-Day 10 after the fight-_

Laughter echoed through the halls oft he underground base, unusual for the fact that each and every one in that building was a fugitive from the police. Sam and Scott had taught Wanda how to play some card game and Johnny had joined them in the meantime. They had been playing for hours and slowly but surely Wanda was about to win- which was met with the development of a partnership against her between Sam and Scott. They even gave it a name; they called it 'The League of Real Players'. Steve had left the room about an hour ago to be with Natasha. They started with some exercize, but soon they just settled down on the couch watching sitcoms.

Steve was not entirely comfortable with the whole team just sitting around, but it was for everyone's bests to let the situation cool down before making an appearance again. Natasha was leaning against him- her eyes half closed, because she was tired and it was already 10 PM. Steve was about to switch off the TV when the news popped up.

A young lady in a black business dress stood in front of a big screen: „Good evening, New York. We have to interrupt our programm for a quick newsflash. The meeting of the international peace comitee ended about 15 minutes ago, but its attendees should never be able to tell us about the results. As soon as the chairman, the Secretary of State of the UK, set foot outside the building gunshots were fired from nearby and immediately killed him and two of his companions. No kind of medical treatment could save their lives. It is a tragedy of severe degree and the police is currently investigating and searching for the offender. First evidence is pointing to a terror organisation, that is led by master assassins. The head of that organisation is said to be the Winter Soldier. This is not yet confirmed."

Immediately Steve turned off the TV and eyed the ground. Natasha was staring at the black screen and then slowly turned to Steve: „Steve… it is not confirmed… Those news bitches say anything for attention and money. Probably someone thought this was a good story…" Steve nodded slightly: „Yeah… you're right. Anyway, we have to stay here. It didn't happen on our watch… right?" Natasha kissed him lightly: „Yes, right. We shouldn't intervene, they will only use it against us." Steve nodded again and rose from the couch. He helped Nat up and murmured: „Let's go to bed…"

* * *

Tony eyed the clock for a moment, before looking at the telescreen again. For about an hour the conversation between his people and the government had been going on already and Tony was getting annoyed by it. They talked about the incident again and again. They watched video footage. The shooter was not clearly visible on a rooftop, but he was wearing a mask and goggles and the hand on the sniper rifle was shining in the sun- it was made of metal.

With the promise of searching for Barnes with his equipment and jail him as soon as possible Tony ended the conversation. Most of the team members wished each other a good night and went to their floors right away. No words were needed, Barnes was a criminal and the government operated against criminals. They had to catch him, because they were agents working for the government.

Tony kept standing in the common room and started rubbing his temple when he was sure the others were gone. He dropped on the couch and murmured curses to himself. What Tony didn't notice was a silent observer standing in the corner beneath the door. Rhodey watched him with concern in his eyes and started walking over to the couch. Tony jumped at the footsteps and seemed to be relieved when he saw his friend, who came to sit beside him.

„Go to sleep, buddy… you need it", Tony tried a smile and patted Rhodey on the shoulder. Rhodey gave him a small smile: „Don't try that shit on me. I know that, but I also know that you have to catch some sleep. And with that I mean more than two hours." Tony stretched: „No… I'm fine. I can't sleep while Barnes is out there. I have to reboot the system to redo the searching algorithm and filter out details of the surveillance footage from everywhere around the pentagon and…" Rhodey interrupted him quickly: „No, you have to do nothing. Tell Friday to scan everything that is available for Barnes and go to bed. She can wake you up, if anything important is to be found."

Tony bowed his head in defeat and sighed: „I also have to keep working on Ragnarok. I don't have time for silly things such as sleep." Rhodey stood up from the couch and stretched one hand in Tony's direction: „Come on! You are sleeping now. Otherwise you won't be fit at all if you find Barnes or Steve or anyone else who is not your best friend at the moment." Tony slowly raised his eyes from the ground and took Rhodey's hand: „Fine… you win."

Rhodey smiled and led Tony out of the common room and to the elevator. He pressed the button to Tony's floor and pushed him out of the machine: „I swear, Friday will tell me if you keep wandering around and then I will kick your stupid ass to bed." Tony nodded slightly and stepped out of the elevator: „I get it… I will go to bed, mom!"

Rhodey started laughing and pressed the button to his floor: „Good night…"

* * *

Steve was staring at the ceiling. Every now and then he glanced at the clock by the bedside. It was 2 AM and Natasha was soundly asleep beside him. Steve was turning to caress her and sat up afterwards. He got out of bed carefully and silently walked over to the door. Maybe a glass of water would help him stop thinking about the assassination that had taken place earlier that night. Thoughts were haunting him. Who was behind that thing? Had Bucky really been the sniper? Why would he do that? Was Hydra still active?

Steve sighed and walked over to the kitchen. He grabbed a bottle from the fridge and took a swig from it. He stared at it for a few seconds before putting it back into the fridge. He ran his fingers through his hair and left the kitchen. Immediately he froze on the spot when he saw a black figure lingering around on the ladder leading to the exit. The hallway was too dark to make out any facial features. Hesitantly Steve took a few steps toward the figure. When the person noticed him she stood up immediately and started climbing up the ladder in panic, but stopped halfway. Steve saw one of the figure's arms shimmer in the faint light coming from the other end of the hallway. It was made of metal.

The tall figure was still standing in the middle of the ladder, while Steve was struggling for words. Finally he managed to talk: „Bucky?" Steve closed the distance between them and stopped a few steps away from the ladder. The figure had shoulder-long, chocolate brown hair and was wearing jeans and a black shirt. Slowly he climbed down again and turned around in order to face Steve: „I didn't… I wanted to leave right away. You don't need another problem."

Steve slowly shook his head: „No, don't… I've been searching for you for such a long time… and now… I can't get into any more trouble so I don't mind you." Bucky swallowed in uncertainty: „If they find me with you people they will put you behind bars." Steve crossed his arms: „They will… no mather if you are with us or not. We are criminals in their eyes, we ran away from law." Bucky shifted from one foot to another: „Look… I didn't kill those people, okay? I didn't have a place to go and… I saw that guy with the wings about two weeks ago. He was taking the poor girl away… I followed him to this place."

Steve hesitated, but then placed a hand on Bucky's shoulder: „I believe you… really. The others will too. They portrait us to the world as criminals, they do the same to you. You are one of us." Bucky smiled lightly: „You sure?" Steve nodded: „Yes, absolutely. We need every help we can get."

Bucky let go of the ladder completely now and haltingly hugged the other man. Steve was surprised first, but hugged him back immediately. Bucky spoke silently: „I missed you, pal…" Steve smiled: „I missed you too, Buck." They parted again seconds later and Steve seemed to be thinking about something before he spoke up again: „Well… we can tell the others in the morning, but there is one problem…"

The former assassin raised an eyebrow: „Which problem?" Steve scratched his head: „As you say… it is a witch problem. This place is not really big and we don't have that many rooms. We are all sharing rooms, except for Wanda. The only bed left is in Wanda's room." Bucky blinked a few times and started grinning afterwards: „I see… but I believe we can ask her, if it is okay. Otherwise there is always the couch."

Steve nodded slightly and guided Bucky to Wanda's room. He knocked twice before opening the door while thinking of each and every possible reaction they could receive.

Wanda woke up when Steve turned the lights on. She sat up and tried to cover her eyes with her hands. Her voice was husky with sleep: „God… Steve… what is wrong? It is in the middle of the night." Steve considered how to ask her without waking up everyone, but decided on just saying it as it was: „I'm sorry Wanda, but it can't be delayed on later… I thought about other options, but there are none. I want to introduce you to your roommate." At the word 'roommate' Wanda's eyes shot open and she looked at Steve and Bucky, who was standing diagonally behind the other man. Wanda eyed Bucky up and murmured: „You are the one they are talking about in the news…" Steve decided on letting Bucky speak for himself and pushed him in Wanda's direction. Bucky eyed the ground nervously before looking at Wanda again: „Yes… but I didn't kill those people. I am not doing such things anymore." The Scarlet Witch had an uncertain look on her face. She eyeballed Steve, who gave her a quick nod, before looking at Bucky again. Bucky was fidgeting jittery and looked at the girl with puppy eyes. Wanda put her arms akimbo and nodded slightly: „Yeah… I hope so, but Steve trusts you and he has told us about you a lot… but… I am not sure if you are trustworthy."

Bucky was even more nervous after the young woman had said that: „Well… I… I don't want to get in anyone's way. I can sleep on the couch or… or elsewhere. I didn't mean to…" Steve started to grin at the thought that Wanda seemed to be really scary, although she was wearing rose colored Minnie Mouse panties and an oversized button up she had most likely stolen from Natasha, who had previously stolen it from him.

Wanda interrupted the embarrassing stuttering with a giggle: „Stop that… I was just testing you, but you seem to be nice. I have nothing against you… roommate." Bucky's shoulders dropped in relief: „Thank you… I will keep my distance of course." Wanda grinned: „A real gentleman." Steve burst out in silent laughter when Wanda said that, receiving a warning look from Bucky. Still amused and grinning Steve looked at his two teammates and gave them a short 'Good night' before going back to bed himself.

* * *

 _-Day 15 after the fight-_

Bruce was in the workshop – alone. He was fastening the backplate of Ragnarok in place again and he didn't look up, when the door was pushed open. Preoccupied he looked at the AI and sighed softly. A female voice appeared right behind him: „Terrible… isn't it?" Bruce gradually let go of his thoughts and turned around to face Hope. He leaned himself against the table and cleared his throat: „What do you mean? The bot?"

Hope nodded and raised her eyes from the machine to Bruces face: „Yep… it is strong. It's able to rip me in half, I believe, and it can't be controlled. But still… you keep working on it, instead of destroying it once and for all."

Bruce knitted his brow: „That's what Ragnarok is to you? I mean… it lost control and all, but Tony is right. It is an enormous benefit for us to have the AI in our team. We are scientists, we can handle it and it will be fixed in time."

Hope gave a laugh: „What if it is malfunctioning again? What is your excuse then?"

Bruce shook his head: „It won't. It is save, believe me Hope. It will work. Vision is also an AI and he is not 'malfunctioning'. Tony built him, just like Ragnarok." Hope walked around the table and stopped opposite Bruce: „You are really sure about that now, but what if one tiny misfit is ignored. Not on purpose of course, but… Look, my father stopped working on that thing because he realized how dangerous it was."

The robot lay still on the platform, but Bruce was watching it now nevertheless. He faced Hope again before he gave her an answer: „It's a shame that Hank refuses to help us with that one, but we will make it work with or without him." Hope pushed a strand of hair behind her ear: „This is not about wheter you need him or not. This is about motivations and it is bad enough that we are fighting our friends – it's even worse that we are battling them with an overpowered AI that may kill all of them and all of us."

Bruce meddled with his shirt collar: „Hope… stop thinking about such things. It is going to be alright."

Hope rolled her eyes and started walking to the door: „Yes… I am sure that plan Tony developed after his tenth cup of coffee will work out perfectly. He is desperately trying to be someone he isn't. He is trying to be a perfect leader." Bruce raised his voice: „Hey, don't run away now!" Hope stopped immediately, but she didn't turn around again: „It is true… you know that."

Crossing his arms in front of his chest Bruce looked at Hope: „Tony is a great leader… he is considering everything." Hope smirked: „Yes, but he is considering too much and he can't hide it away. He is doing terrible. He looks like a drug addict and he is starting to act like one too. Tony lets the responsability take over and consume him. A good leader has to keep his distance too. He has to take a step back if needed."

With those words Hope left the workshop and Bruce behind. Bruce sighed deeply. In a way Hope was right. Tony was thinking too much, but he was a good leader. Bruce would never say anything else. He turned around and started working on Ragnarok again. This had to be perfect.

Soon afterwards Tony entered the room. He walked over to Ragnarok as well and watched Bruce a few seconds. Bruce stopped working and turned to Tony with a small smile: „Hey buddy. You okay?" Tony nodded slightly: „Yeah… I managed to catch some sleep the past week. Although Barnes tends to keep me awake."

„We will find him for sure… give it time. The man managed to hide from the world for decades", Bruce gave the other man a cheerful look.

Tony nodded: „Yeah, right. And Bruce… there is another thing."

Bruce placed the srewdriver on the table, when Tony said that and eyed him with a puzzled look: „Yes? What is it?" Tony hesitated: „I know you avoid it – especially since South Africa – but if we should meet the rebels anytime soon we'll need some help." Bruce frowned: „Tony… we have Ragnarok. We don't need the other guy." Tony placed both his hands on Bruce's shoulders: „Come on, man. Only to scare them." Bruce shook his head: „Are you kidding me? To scare them? The Hulk is a being with its own will. There is no algorithm to fix that. He could hurt someone badly. He could even kill. That is a terrible idea."

Tony tried to be convincing: „Please… the team was able to control him in the past and that will be the case again."

Bruce threw Tony's hands off: „No! Wanda was able to manipulate him, but for everyone else he is too dangerous." A sigh was let out by Tony: „Bruce… we trust each other, don't we? I will take care of it. We improved Veronica a lot, remember? If – and I am saying 'if' because it won't happen – you were to lose control, I would be able to stop you. It is save." The doctor chewed on his bottom lip and made his way to the window: „I… don't know. Is this really necessary?"

Tony followed his friend: „Okay… new deal: I need good backup and before I send in Ragnarok I send in the Hulk. Therefore, I will only need the other guy as backup." Bruce hesitated and looked down at the streets of New York. Finally he answered with a nod. Tony smiled and put an arm around Bruce: „Thank you."

* * *

Scott Lang yawned while entering the common room of the underground base. He went over to the coffee machine and pressed a button, when his eyes met with Johnny and Clint standing in front of the table toying around with Natasha's Widows bite. Scott smirked and leaned against the shelf: „Hey… if you want to stay alive, I'd recommend not to touch those things. And above all else: Don't blow them." Clint looked up to face his roommate: „Believe it or not, Natasha is okay with that. We just have to remove the thing Susan put into those previously and then we have to find a way to make it work with an arrow."

That was enough to attract Scott's attention. He walked over to the table and eyed the equipment: „Well… I am a mechanic of some kind. I can do it." Johnny stopped working and looked up to eye Scott: „I can do it too… Sue is my sister. It is better if I handle her tech." Scott shrugged and went to the coffee machine again: „If you say so." He took his cup and left the room again.

A few doors down the floor Natasha entered and Steve's and her room giggling. Steve started grinning when she walked in: „What happened to you?" Natasha dropped on the bed next to Steve: „Rogers, you little matchmaker…" Steve raised an eyebrow: „What do you mean?" Natasha kept giggling: „Haven't you seen Maximoff and Barnes lately? You should check it out…" Steve stared at her in disbelief before his grin got even wider: „For real?" Natasha nodded and pulled him to his feet: „Come on! But you have to be quiet or they will spot us." Steve gave her a brief nod and followed her to Wanda's and Bucky's room. The door was ajar and silent laughter could be heard. Natasha grinned and portended Steve to stay quiet when they reached the door. Natasha grabbed the doorframe and peeked inside. Steve softly grabbed her shoulder and instantly bit his lip in order to make no sound when he saw the others.

Bucky was holding Wanda's hairbrush in the air. She was unable to reach it, but tried it nevertheless without using her powers. They both lauged uncontrollably. Wanda tried to jump, however it didn't help. She lauged while talking: „Hey! Give it back! It's not fair." Bucky took a step back and held the brush even higher: „No chance, Wanda!" Wanda stopped and grinned while she made the brush slip out of his hand and ruin his hair: „Still?" Bucky tried to grab the brush again, but when that didn't work he just grabbed Wanda's waist with both of his hands and placed the young woman on the bed: „Now I look like an idiot!" Wanda giggled: „Who says you aren't one?" Bucky pouted feigned: „You are mean." Wanda laughed and pulled him closer to her: „I will atone for it…"

Bucky lifted his human hand to caress Wanda's cheek: „I hope so." Wanda ran her fingers through his hair to put the strands in place again: „See… now you look like a gentleman again." Bucky grinned: „I am far away from being a gentleman." Wanda smiled and murmured: „I don't need a gentleman", before kissing Bucky gently.

In that very same moment a scream could be heard from the common room and Natasha accidently pushed the door open. Two pairs of eyes immediately stared at the soldier and the spy. Steve nervously shifted from one foot to the other: „Ahhmm… hey." Wanda was the first one to discover her ability to talk again and stood up from the bed: „Sorry… private circle." Without saying another word she pushed her two teammates out of the room and closed the door behind them.

Right after that laughter echoed from the other side of the door again. Natasha grinned and looked at Steve: „That was pretty bad…" Steve grinned and kissed her: „For a spy it was really bad." Natasha lightly punched his arm: „Steven Rogers, that is not how you talk to a lady." Steve rolled his eyes and pulled her towards the common room: „Let's see what happened there."

Natasha couldn't help it and laughed out loud when they entered the room. A cursing Johnny collected the tools and parts of her weapons that were spilled on the floor. On his left cheek he had large red spots matching the attacking part of the Widow's bites. Clint watched him laughing silently with tears in his eyes.

Steve couldn't hide his own grin while walking over to Johnny: „What happened to you?" Johnny took the items and placed them on the table again: „I… the tech is a little more complicated than I have assumed and probably… maybe I forgot to deactivate something before opening the frontpiece…" Clint burst out laughing again when Johnny said that: „You… you should have… seen your face!" Johnny touched the red spots with one hand: „Haha… so funny! Stop it and help, will you?" Clint managed to contain himself slowly and shook his head: „Forget it. I don't know a thing about that stuff. We need an engineer."

Johnny sighed and looked at Clint: „But… but you are coming with me." Clint nodded and started walking towards the door with Johnny following him supreme reluctantly. Steve followed them with his eyes and took Natasha's hand: „Come on… let's go back to the room." Natasha was still grinning and nodded. She went back to their room with Steve: „You know… I thought it would be terribly boring to sit around down here all day, but it turns out that the others are fairly interesting." Steve grinned and closed the door behind them: „Absolutely."

Clint opened the door to Scott's and his bedroom and found the other man sitting on the bed. Johnny followed him into the room and was met with a fit of laughter coming from the bed: „You… you look like you have met with some of those little squidwards from that cartoon series… Avatar." Johnny sighed: „I don't need your commentary, little man." Clint pinched Johnny's arm slightly: „Don't be so mean…" Johnny sighed and crossed his arms: „Fine… Listen, Scott… Those things have some parts I can't really deal with… I thought, I knew everything about those and if my sister could do it… The point is: Can you…" Scott started grinning: „Yes? What did you want to ask me?"

Johnny shifted uncomfortably: „Can you help us remove the magnetron from the Widow's bites and install it into an arrow?" Scott acted as if he was considering: „Well… What's the magic word?" Johnny cleared his throat and muttered a 'please'. With that Scott seemed to be satisfied and stood up.

* * *

 _-Day 17 after the fight-_

For the first time in a week the entrance to the underground base was opened and the whole team left their quarters. Steve was the first one to step out and walk over to the parking lot. It was empty, because it was already getting dark and the area closed at 6 PM. He was wearing his suit, which Wanda had manged to fix somehow. Natasha held him back before he reached the asphalt: „Wait… are you sure about this?" Steve turned around and took her hands: „Yes… we can't just sit around and do nothing. We have to face the others again – sooner or later." Natasha sighed: „I know, I know, but maybe we should wait a little longer." Steve smiled: „No, we can't give them even more time." Natasha pulled him closer and kissed him: „Promise me – you will be careful." Steve returned her kiss and nodded: „I promise."

When everyone was assembled near the parking lot they made their way to the small car park ticked machine. A surveillance camera was greeting them. Steve took his helmet off and looked directly at the camera while mumbling: „Can't be long from now."

Meanwhile Friday was telling Tony about the surveillance footage. It didn't take his team long to suit up and get into the jet. Tony was sitting in the front of the jet looking at his Iron Man helmet. No one was talking, the tension was clearly noticable. It took the team only about five minutes to reach their destination. The Quinjet landed softly on the big parking lot and the doors opened. Tony rose from his seat and carried the helmet, instead of wearing it. The others followed him outside and stopped in front of the other team. Tony was the first one to speak: „Are you finally giving up?"

Steve kept his arms crossed: „We are asking you to accept our decision not to register… If you don't we are still willing to fight for that right." Tony sighed: „What the hell is wrong with you? This is ridicolous… Bruce accepted the act too. Think about it again." Steve looked back at his team for a moment before facing Tony again: „Exactly… it should be a decision everyone can make on their own. No one should be forced into that."

Tony slowly put his helmet on: „This is not what I wanted, but you are acting against the law and you are sheltering a criminal." He gestured into Bucky's direction. Steve shook his head: „He is not responsable. Whoever is, wanted to put a wrong complexion on us." Tony put his faceplate on now as well: „You really believe that? That's enough!"

He leveled his left hand at Steve and shot an energy beam. Steve dodged it with his shield and reflected it into Tony's direction. The other superheroes also started to move and split up from one another.

Steve and Tony remained alone in the middle of the area. Tony was trying his repulsors again, but Steve managed to dodge all of the rays with his shield. With every beam of light Tony was coming closer to Steve and he tried to kick the shield away with his fists. Steve was holding close onto the disc and used it to attack the other man. Tony ducked away under the shield and attacked Captain America with his fists. Steve dodged the hits and started attacking with his shield again. Both men were clearly not here to play it easy. This should be final.

* * *

Meanwhile Sam Wilson was doing his best in avoiding the webs of a little Spiderboy. Peter was swinging around on the Quinjet while he was trying to shoot Sam down from the sky. The other man was circling above the young hero like a bird: „Come on, kid! You need to go home. This is not good for you." Spiderman pinned Falcon's legs together, which was met with swearing: „No way, man! I'm not a kid. I can handle it – I can handle you." Sam sighed and missed Spiderman by just an inch, when he came down to attack. Peter made use of that and quickly fixed one of Falcon's wings to the jet. Sam was caught off guard and crashed on the wing of the Quinjet, followed by his other wing also being fixed to the metal. Sam immediately reacted with retracting his wings and the cobwebs loosened good enough to free his hands. He pressed a button at his chest and a small explosive was fired from his backpack over his shoulder. It touched the ground between the both of them and immediately demolished part of the jet. Spiderman was thrown backwards, while Sam's suit got slightly damaged in the process. Falcon brushed the rest of the webs off and got up immediately – just to meet the boy's webs again. This time, however, the older man was able to dogde them and attacked the boy with his fists. With his Spidersenses he was able to avoid most of them. Though when he was at the edge of the wing it was harder to dodge all of the punches and Sam's fist met with Peter's jawline: „Maaaan… that hurt, you know!" Sam rolled his eyes: „Go back home, kid."

Spiderman smirked under his mask: „You are the one to leave!" He did a backflip to the ground and started attacking Sam again, who was following him down.

Soon Sam was joined by Johnny and Scott. Peter had a hard time dodging all the attacks and part of his suit was already ripped, exposing wounds on his skin. The coms of Team Iron Man were getting busy: „Guys! I need some help!" „Sorry, no time. I'm busy with those red girls!", Reed's answer came out stressed and loudly. Hope didn't sound too happy herself: „No way! I'm busy keeping the Winter Soldier at bay!" Tony thought about it a few seconds, then he responded: „Bruce… we need you! Get your ass out of the jet now! And make it green if possible!"

Bruce was watching the fight from the inside of the Quinjet and it wasn't looking good for the team. In other words: It was a desaster. Bruce swollowed his fear to hurt his friends and sighed: „Copy." He opened the jet's door and stepped outside. He took a deep breath and started transforming into the Hulk. Immediately the big, green guy stepped in front of Spiderman. In his deep voice he said, looking at Johnny, Scott and Sam: „Don't touch Spiderboy!"

Sam was staring at the Hulk for a second before taking a step back: „Easy, big guy…" The Hulk was not moving an inch, while Spiderman appeared beside him. Johnny was looking at his teammates and nodded slightly: „I'd say, let's do this!" He activated his fire powers and threw a punch at the Hulk. Scott shrinked down to antsize and started attacking Spiderman, who had a hard time trying to catch the little man. Sam finally picked up courage and helped Johnny keeping the other guy covered.

Sam was doing great in avoiding the punches of the Hulk, but one time he wasn't fast enough. When the big green fist hit him in the back his gear shattered and made the wings pop out. Sam was kicked away from the others and landed a few feet away from the other men. He tried to baffle the fall with his arms, which ended in bruises. Johnny immediately steppped in front of his friend and defeated him: „Sam… you okay?" Sam couldn't prevent a groan escaping his throat, but he started getting up quickly: „Yeah… I… shit… I just think I… broke my arm."

Johnny fired a blast towards the Hulk to keep him away from both of them: „Okay man… I'm covering you and you elope from this place!" Sam gritted his teeth: „No… I am not leaving you." Johnny shook his head: „I have Scott! We can win this, we're beating them anyway." Sam chewed on his bottom lip and ripped off one wing with his good hand. He managed to get up again and faced the Hulk who was busy trying to catch the Human Torch. Johnny was circling the green monster and laughed at him: „Nice try, Bruce!" That made the Hulk even angrier and he yelled loudly. He grabbed the young man's leg, as if it wasn't on fire and bashed him down on the street. Johnny groanded and started coughing when the Hulk's fist hit him seconds later. Sam knew, he had to do something about it and pressed a button on his backpack, which was still working and the intact wing targeted the green monster. The seperate segments of the wing gathered and fired at Bruce Banner. When they hit him he turned to Sam immediately and clenched his fists. In that moment Sam realized that this was obviously a bad idea. He took a few steps back and gave his best to swallow his fear. The Hulk started rushing towards him and Sam jumped aside just a moment before the other guy reached him. He tried all of his explosives, but only two of them were still working. And those didn't seem to affect the Hulk in any way. Sam bit his bottom lip and started running toward the Hulk. He couldn't run away anymore- it was too late. He ducked under the seemingly giant fists of his former friend and attached one end of a rope to his leg. Johnny was starting to get up in the meantime. He wasn't using his powers and had bruises all over his body. His clothes were ripped and oviously some of his ribs were damaged by the hit.

„Hey! We're not finished yet!", Johnny screamed at the Hulk from behind, which was met with the big guy turning around immediately. Sam seized the moment and rapped the rope around both of the other man's legs. He knotted the ends together again and fixed his construction with a metal part of his suit.

Immediately the Hulk tried to free himself from the bonds which made him stagger. Johnny seized that and flamed up again: „I'll be right back, Sam…" He looked at his comrade before lifting himself up in the air and disappearing. Sam stared after Johnny before riveting on the Hulk again. Scott was nowhere to be seen, but he had stated over the coms before that he was trying his best against Spiderman, so that would probably keep him occupied and unavailable for help. In horror the wingless Falcon watched the rope around the green monster's legs break as if it was nothing but a hair. He started walking back, but soon he met with the jet's damaged wing, which was leaning against the rest of the aircraft. The Hulk snarled and threatfully approached Sam.

News teams and curious spectators had gathered around the parking lot. Of course the fight hadn't stayed unnoticed. News ancors all over the place were reporting live for their studios. Several teams of police were trying to secure the area, but it was really difficult. It wasn't the right time to think about those, though. As long as they didn't come too close they were not in any danger. Most of the cameras were pointed at Captain America and Iron Man. Only a few captured the following moment. And it was, really, just a moment when compared to the time they were fighting that night, but for Johnny it was taking way too long.

He had hurried as much as he could, but the condition he was in didn't allow him to carry a steel beam any faster then he was. He had taken it from a building site and was heading toward the others again, but nearly dropped the beam when he saw what was happening. From above he could see the false Thor battling the Black Widow and the Winter Soldier. When did that thing arrive? Not that far from them Cap and Iron Man were fighting. They were looking pretty bad already, but it didn't seem like anyone was giving up. In the middle he saw Wanda and Clint battling Reed and Hope, supported by the Vision. They didn't look too bad, he assumed they were holding a lot back on purpose. All over the place news teams were scattered. In front of the jet Spiderman was struggling with some invisible force – that had to be Scott. Johnny, however, landed on the other side of the jet and he almost froze in that position.

Sam was desperately trying to avoid the Hulk's punches, but it was difficult for him, because he had been pushed back against the broken wing of the jet. The Hulk was getting even angrier when he missed Sam. The bit of humanity that was left in his eyes slowly faded away and the only thing that stayed was the monster. There was nothing left of Dr. Bruce Banner in that moment – this was the Hulk like no one had ever seen him.

The big guy now managed to grab Sam with his gigantic green hand and started crushing him. Sam let out a terrifying scream and Johnny immediately yelled at the Hulk: „Stop! Leave him alone!" The Hulk turned around to face the Human Torch without letting go of Sam. Sam coughed slightly and gasped: „I… I can't breathe…" His voice was low and he sounded really weak.

Johnny raised the steel beam up, over his head: „Let him go… or I'm going to hurt you!" The Hulk didn't react and started walking towards Johnny. Johnny took a deep breath before spinning the beam around and attacking the monster with it. When the weapon hit the Hulk he turned and flung Sam towards the jet. Johnny could only watch while his friend was flying through the air way too fast. Sam couldn't help himself and dashed against the aircraft exactly where the wing had been ripped off by the explosion. Several pieces of metal protruded and one of those impaled Sam Wilson. Johnny's heart skipped a beat. His friend let out a dulled scream and stared at the metal sticking out of his abdomen, before losing consciousness.

Johnny stared at Sam for mere moment before looking at the Hulk again. He started attacking the monster with the beam again: „Come back! Come back! You fucking killed him!" The Hulk still wasn't affected by the words, but the attacks started to act. The Hulk's movements started to get slower and not so well coordinated anymore. Johnny was furious and he was hitting the other man with his improvised weapon again and again. Several biffs on the head did the trick and the Hulk was knocked out. The Human Torch immediately dropped the beam and sank to the ground. The flames vanished and Johnny was slowly getting up again. Every inch of his body hurt – it was a tough job fighting the Hulk. He looked at the other guy who was slowly transforming back into Bruce Banner. But that wasn't the thing that claimed Johnny's attention. He stumbled over to where Sam was still situated. With shaky hands he was carefully touching the Falcon's shoulder: „Sam?" No answer. Johnny tried again, this time a little louder: „Sam…?"

Sam's eyes were closed and he was bleeding a lot. Johnny gritted his teeth before activating his com: „Cap… I… I need… Sam needs… please help!"

* * *

On the other side of the parking lot another fight was raging on at the very same time. In the beginning Wanda and Natasha had fought Reed and Vision, while Bucky had been occupied with Hope. Clint had helped all of them with his arrows. They were winning. They were more people. They didn't meet the Hulk when Tony called him in and Reed got more frustrated. A huge gash gaped on his left arm. It was from one of Natasha's bullets, which she aimed in a way that would hurt but not kill.

„Tony… backup!", Reed wasn't even thinking about a proper sentence anymore. He was just pressing out words in a stressed out way. Tony had a hard time himself keeping up with Steve, but murmured: „Okay… wait a minute." Iron Man contacted the only man left at Stark Tower, Hank Pym: „Pym… I need Ragnarok!" Hank monitored the fight closely over the security cameras: „Stark, are you a 100 % sure that it is functional?" Tony ducked away under the shield before answering: „Yes! Yes, please hurry!"

Hank Pym hesitated once again, but rose from his chair afterwards and made his way towards the lab. He looked at the still robot lying on the table in the middle and sighed. He placed a small chip on its abdomen and activated the machine.

Only a few minutes later the Thor copy landed on the parking lot. All of the reporters were freaking out and it was getting even more crouded. The robot scanned his surroundings carefully and his eyes fell on the Winter Soldier, who was programmed as his target now. With heavy steps he made his way to the others and stepped between Hope and Bucky. Hope eyed Ragnarok for a second, but she still wasn't trusting the machine, so she decided to help Reed and Vision.

Rhodey, who had sent Spiderman backup from above stopped behind Ragnarok. He directly looked at Bucky: „Surrender… or you will have to fight the Thundergod." Bucky eyed Ragnarok, then turned to Rhodey: „That thing is no god. I won't back down." Rhodey sighed: „First mistake…" He fired a missile at Bucky, who managed to dodge it, but got hit by the hammer the false Thor was carrying. When he hit the ground he got up immediately: „This all you got?" He attacked the machine with his metal arm, but it only got damaged very litte. When Ragnarok activated the hammer and started gathering lightning it was surprisingly interrupted by getting electrified itself. It stopped collecting lightning and turned to face a smirking Natasha Romanoff: „Missed me?" The false Thor didn't seem to be impressed by the spy and struck out in order to hit her when a metal fist met with its back. Ragnarok turned and started attacking Bucky again.

Nat pulled out her guns and started shooting at the robot, but only a few dents were left when the bullets fell to the ground. Ragnarok electrified his hammer again and hit Bucky with it. The man tried to dodge it with his metal arm, but got shocked and his arm was malfunctioning. So when the hammer hit him again he was without cover and got catapulted away. Natasha stared at Bucky who was lying on the ground and without hesitating any longer she jumped on the robot's back in order to attack it with a knife: „Hey! I'm here! Fight me!" Ragnarok's skin was only barely scratched by the knife and he was struggling to get Natasha off of him. Natasha clinged to the robot with all her strength, but it was getting harder and harder. Over Ragnarok's shoulder she could see Rhodey picking up Bucky by the neck. She couldn't let go, because it wouldn't help at all to free the robot. Luckily Bucky woke up right in that moment and freed himself. He started a direct combat with War Machine.

Natasha herself couldn't hold on much longer. She was that focused on staying on the robot's back that she didn't realize that the false Thor was raising his hammer in the air in time. He started ascending with Natasha on his back and they were already too high when she had the opportunity of letting go. Ragnarok now loaded the hammer with lightning for just a second and made contact with Natasha's arms, that were still wrapped around the machine's throat. The Black Widow convulsed and let out a silent scream, before her body relaxed automatically. Natasha passed out and started falling towards the ground like a stone.

Bucky was trying to get rid of Rhodey in the meantime. They had gotten into a fistfight and were pretty much equal. Although, when Ragnarok started ascending all of Bucky's alarms rang. He had to help Natasha and he could only do that when he won. He took a step back to dodge one of Rhodey's hits and grabbed the other man's shoulder tightly. Rhodey tried to shake Bucky off, but it didn't work. Bucky pulled at the metal plates as strong as possible and luckily for him he managed to bend the shoulder plate up. He kicked Rhodey back and pulled out his gun quickly. He aimed at the spot where the other man had lost his protection and shot before Rhodey had regained foothold. The bullet hit Rhodey's shoulder and a ear-splitting scream followed.

Bucky swallowed and murmured a 'Sorry' before hitting the wound with his metal arm and removing Rhodey's faceplate. He hesitated, but when Ragnarok dropped Nat he punched the other man in the face. Rhodey immediately fell to the ground unconscious.

Bucky started running over to where Natasha would hit the ground as fast as he could. Bucky jumped and in the very last moment he caught Natasha. His metal hand was securing her neck, while the other one supported her body. He couldn't stop her head from hitting the concrete, but he managed to brake the fall a lot, so the cut started to bleed just a little. Bucky placed her down on the ground softly when a familiar robot alighted behind them. He rose from the concrete and turned to face Ragnarok. The machine's red eyes were focused on him and it had a murderous look on its face. Bucky curled his hands into fists and took a step towards Ragnarok: „You are not going to hurt anyone again…" The false Thor didn't seem to be interested in Bucky's words and started collecting lightning again. Bucky shot a look at Natasha one more time before running towards Ragnarok. He dodged the lightning by ducking right in time and continued running. When he reached the machine he kicked it away from Nat: „You are disgusting! People who put you together again are mad!"

Ragnarok punched Bucky in the stomach, which made the Winter Soldier cough. Wanda, who was still really close kept Hope at bay. When she turned she saw Nat lieing on the ground and in panic she started searching for Bucky. The Scarlet Witch held Hope down with one hand and when she spotted Bucky fighting Ragnarok she yelled: „Bucky! Underneath the neck! Rip it out!"

Bucky heard Wanda's voice and his head immediately shot up to check on her. When he saw that she was okay he tried to reach Ragnarok's neck, which was really hard because the machine was fighting back vigorously. Wanda chewed on her lip when Ragnarok attacked the Winter Soldier with his hammer. She couldn't watch any longer. She put out her hand in Bucky's direction and her red magic froze Ragnarok in place. Bucky seized the chance and grabbed the machine's upper back with his metal hand. He pulled the coating that looked like actual skin and unveiled a welded square in the metal. Bucky eyed Wanda again: „Wanda! I can't! Please open it!" Wanda concentrated and busted the metal within seconds. Bucky grabbed all the cable and chips and metal parts inside the hole Wanda had made and ripped it out. The red glow in Ragnarok's eyes fainted and the robot collapsed on the floor. It seemed to be turned off.

Immediately Bucky dropped the components of Ragnarok and ran over to where Natasha was. Firstly he checked on Rhodes who was still on the ground where he had left him. Then he went over to Nat and cradled her head on his lab. He tried to wake her, but she was still unconscious. When he activated his com to call for help, when he heard Johnny's voice in his ear: „Cap… I… I need… Sam needs… please help!" He waited for an answer from Steve for a few seconds, but there was none, so he spoke up as well: „Steve… Natasha is hurt. She needs a doctor. Rhodes is down as well, can't leave him here…" What the team heard moments later was really not what they had expected from their leader.

* * *

Iron Man and Captain America were the only ones left at that spot of the parking lot. Their fight was going on for quite some time now and none of them was holding back. The Iron Man armor had scratches and dents all over it and Cap's uniform was ripped in several spots. He had a large gash on his forehead, but he acted as if he didn't care. Steve smirked: „You know… it's pretty unfair that you have those repulsors." Iron Man didn't seem to be touched by that statement: „Make some for yourself, old man." Steve shrugged: „No, I think I'll just deactivate them." He waved his left hand one time and faster than anyone could dodge an arrow came darting through the air. It hit Iron Man's shoulder, but it didn't seem to affect the armor. Tony leveled his hand at Steve again: „Seems like you have to practice." Steve smiled: „I don't think so." When he expected a beam of light shooting at Captain America Tony Stark saw nothing. His armor was still functional, but it didn't shoot anything.

When Tony had recovered from the shock he walked over to Steve and attacked him with his fists: „Foul play, Rogers. How can someone like you do that?" Steve dodged the attacks and started attacking himself again: „You know… when someone frightens my people I'm willing to help them, no matter what."

Tony rolled his eyes and tried to knock away the shield, but Steve was holding on it too tightly. He knocked Iron Man over and held him down: „Stop… or I'm going to hurt you." Tony tried to escape: „Fuck you and your morals and your opinion, Rogers. You don't have the stones to kill me!"

Steve lifted his shield above his head while he kept the other man down with his knees: „Don't challenge me." In that moment the coms of Team Captain America went viral: „Cap… I… I need… Sam needs… please help!" … „Steve… Natasha is hurt. She needs a doctor. Rhodes is down as well, can't leave him here…" Steve started to realize what was happening around him. Former friends were fighting each other and their lives were in danger. He was about to kill a man he had fought side by side with for years. Captain America glanced up and saw all the people crouding the area. He stood up and let go of Iron Man, who stood up, confused about the other man's actions: „Hey… where are you going?" But Steve wasn't listening to him any longer. He made his way towards the police barrier and activated his com: „Stand down troops! Stop fighting! Call the doctors… This is an order." He didn't turn his speaker off again and stopped in front of the police officers who were staring at him. He eyed the ground for a second, but slapped on a brave look before glancing up at the officers again. He dropped his shield and removed his helmet: „Captain Steven Grant Rogers, I surrender in order to protect my people! They haven't done anything wrong, let them go. I am in charge! Arrest me." He held his hands towards the men, so they could handcuff them.

After hesitating for a while the police followed Captain America's orders and led him away. They left the others behind, Tony was staring at the scene unfolding before his very eyes. What the hell had just happened? After he had been able to put those thoughts aside he started taking care of the situation. He made sure that the wounded were taken care of and everyone on Cap's team was taken to Stark Tower to get registered. Two members of the other team, however, were nowhere to be found. Clint and Natasha seemed to have vanished into thin air, but that was okay. All of their data had been collected by S.H.I.E.L.D and the government had been granted access to that database. They could be registered without being present.

In the meantime a helicopter was departing further and further from the former battle sight. Nick Fury was piloting while Sharon Carter was taking care of Natasha. Clint was helping too since he had just a few scatches and one deeper cut along his left arm. Fury had once again done 'something dramatic' and Clint was glad about that. No one knows how long they would have been held back at Stark Tower if they had been taken there. The first thing he did was call Laura that he was okay and that he would call her again before he would come back home. Then he stayed with Natasha. It would take some time to placate her again when she would find out about Steve.

* * *

Soon after filling in some forms at Stark Tower everyone moved to the hospital Sam and Rhodey had been taken to. It felt awkward sitting in the same room together with those who one had fought against a few hours ago. It was in the middle of the night, but none of them considered sleeping as an option right then.

Wanda was leaning against Bucky, who had been acquitted from commiting the assassination. For his other crimes he had to work for the country like all the others, with the difference that he was being watched really, really closely. He was stroking Wanda's hair softly. They hadn't told them about where Steve had been taken yet and there was nothing new about their comrade's condition. Sometimes waiting was even worse than knowing that everything was terrible.

Sometimes waiting would give you that tiny bit of hope where none could be found in reality. It would give you that 'everything will be fine'- attitude, when all hell broke lose. In those silent minutes in the waiting room they didn't know that their worlds would be changed forever sooner than they could deal with it.

* * *

 **That turned out unexpectedly long! But I am really happy with the result. I hope you like it too, let me know with a review, please! 3**

 **For those who got confused during reading about the fight: All of those things happen at the same time :) Thanks for reading! I hope you can forgive me for being so damn slow with those and that you will still wait for the next part**


	2. Update

Hello out there.

I hope you are ready for what's about to happen… because it might not be the happiest thing. Part 5 is out! Please read and review 'No light, no light' Thanks a lot for following!


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